Nokia Plans To Unfurl New Mobile Map App

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Nokia Corp. executive Sean Fernback said the company was planning to bring free-of-charge map apps directly to consumers via mobile devices running Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS platform. The applications, scheduled for release before the end of the year, would work without an Internet connection, according to Mr. Fernback.

STOCKHOLM– Nokia Corp.’s mapping business is making a new push to bring its maps directly to consumers as it tries to play catch up with rival mobile mapping services provided by Google Inc. and Apple Inc.

The apps, scheduled for release before the end of the year, would be unique in that they would work without an Internet connection, Nokia said.

Nokia’s main mapping business is geared toward corporate customers, like auto makers and logistics-dependent businesses such as FedEx Corp. and Amazon.com, who pay licensing fees to use the digital-mapping platform.

The impetus to make its maps available to consumers on a larger number of mobile devices comes as Nokia’s maps are no longer tied to the fate of its shrinking and loss-making handset business, transferred to Microsoft Corp. earlier this year.

“We will go where the scale is,” said Mr. Fernback, an executive at HERE which is Nokia’s mapping unit.

For now, Google’s and Apple’s maps dominate the consumer market, who predominantly use Android and iOS devices. Both companies would have to approve the inclusion of Nokia’s new product in their app stores, but Nokia doesn’t expect this to be a problem.

“I’m convinced people are looking for alternatives,” Mr. Fernback said. “Google Maps is a good solution for many, their maps work very well, but it has looked the same and done the same for a long time.”

Google wasn’t immediately available for comment.

Nokia’s new apps will have functions that competitors lack, including the option to fully download maps for offline-use, as well as search without an Internet connection, Mr. Fernback said. Google Maps allows for more limited offline functionality.

Map navigation works through satellites so once a map is downloaded it can work without an Internet connection.

Nokia doesn’t expect any immediate financial returns from the new map applications for Android and iOS. Unlike Google, which offers its maps free of-charge but shows advertisements next to search results, Nokia hasn’t built up an advertising operation to support its service and has no plans to do so for now.

Offering free maps to everyday users should generate more feedback to fine-tune Nokia’s location engine as each user of Nokia’s maps on a smartphone or a tablet becomes a probe, Nokia’s Mr. Fernback said.

The company struck a deal with Samsung Electronics Co. last month to make mapping applications for the South Korean group’s Tizen operating system.

Nokia has tried to lure users from competitors in the past with poor results. In 2012, the company released a mapping app for iPhones to capitalize on initial criticism of Apple’s new maps software, but Nokia’s app received dismal reviews and few downloads. It was then pulled from Apple’s app store.

“It was a rushed product that was never thoroughly proven,” Mr. Fernback said. “Honestly, it went horribly wrong. But we’ve regrouped now.”

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